Kiaran P. McLaughlin

The serious work is over for the Belmont Stakes contenders.Most of the horses in Saturday's 1 1/2-mile conclusion to the Triple Crown had easy gallops in the slop Thursday morning at Belmont Park.Much of the focus was on Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird stretching his legs over the strip for the first time following his arrival from Kentucky on Wednesday afternoon.Trainer Chip Woolley is amazed by the gelding's adaptability. He had no problem handling the sloppy surface at Churchill Downs in the Derby. Two weeks later, Mine That Bird was a hard-charging second behind the filly Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness at Pimlico."If there's a track he doesn't like, we haven't found it yet," Woolley said of the 2-1 favorite in the Belmont.Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin took Charitable Man, the 3-1 second choice, to Belmont's training track for his gallop instead of the main track.McLaughlin is not a big fan of training in the mud."Ideally speaking, we'd like to gallop over a fast track, just to ...

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